Exploring the effect of monetary incentives on user behavior in online sharing platforms

Abstract

We examine the impact of monetary incentives on user onboarding in online sharing platforms. Specifically, drawing upon the literature of monetary incentives, privacy, and consumer behavior, we conduct a randomized field experiment to explore users’ initial engagement and interaction with an online car-sharing platform. Our empirical analyses show that monetary incentives are no better than simple email reminders in encouraging users’ self-disclosure of private information nor their active engagement with the platform (i.e., actual booking via the platform). Our work sheds new light on the heated debate over the design and deployment of monetary incentives in digital platforms, and provides useful implications for both academia and the industry.